UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Mosley agrees to quit

Todt the preferred replacement

In a letter sent to all member clubs of the FIA this morning president Max Mosley has confirmed that he will not be standing for re-election in October. As he has agreed this once before and taken only 48 hours to change his mind we must hope that he honours his decision in this instance.

In the letter Mosley claims to have received ‘almost 100 messages’ from FIA member clubs urging him to stand again, and hails this as an ‘absolutely unprecedented level of support’.

Further into the letter he states that his preferred replacement would be Jean Todt, former Ferrari team manager, a man he describes as ‘the outstanding motor sport manager of his generation’ – a claim that we would not disagree with.

It is well known that FOTA does not favour Todt as FIA president, and the recent announcement that former Rally champion Ari Vatanen, a man with political experience, would be standing for the post may indicate that he is their preferred choice for the role.

Interesting to note that Mosley states Todt would ‘preserve the independence of the FIA’, bringing to mind a question as to whether he believes such is in danger at the moment.

With the new Concorde agreement said to be almost ready and the confirmation that Mosley will not stand in October, we believe that serious work in the background has seen Bernie Ecclestone, CVC and FOTA move F1 towards a much welcome reconciliation.

The full content of the letter can be found in the Press Releases section, under Media, at www.fia.com.

Written: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:10:56